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JENNIFER LILLENSTEIN: Welcome to this one hour webinar entitled Establishing Effective Teacher Learning Communities. My name's Jen Lillenstein and I invited two of my colleagues, Deb Fulton and Pam Kastner who are also

educational consultants here at PaTTAN, to assist in the presentation of today's content. We're really pleased that you're able to join us, particularly in light of increasing emphasis on professional

learning communities, and the vision of many school leaders have for cultivating a sense of shared and stable leadership and schools. Deb, Pam and I really saw this webinar as an opportunity to review

some of the current research and implementation guidelines for establishing effective PLC's or TLC's, we'll use those terms interchangeably. In an effort to hopefully assist those of you who are

interested or already involved in making the investment in teachers. Following the webinar and for more information on this topic, we would refer you to the work of Dylan Wiliam, Siobhan Leahy,

Richard DuFour, and Anne Jolly. There's also a number of websites devoted to this topic and I'll quickly reference a more popular one called All Things PLC. So, let's move onto the agenda. Incidentally,

if you have any questions throughout the presentation, please submit them to this email address si@pattan.net. Today we're going to briefly review the origin of professional learning communities

guidelines for implementation and show you a sample meeting structure and some options for securing times. We also hope that you have an opportunity to reflect on your current implementation of PLC's

and the purpose that they're currently serving for your teachers and students. As a function of participating in the webinar you'll walk away with these resources for further review and

consideration. Also, please know that as we move through these slides we're going to allow you some time for you to review the slide before we discuss it. As many of you are aware, the PLC concept is still relatively

new. Traditionally, in schools we've been in communities for professionals but have not always operated as professional learning communities. The PLC concept emerged from work in the 1990's aimed at

reculturing schools. Specifically, a number of workplace studies were conducted and focused on working conditions for teachers. There was an intent to learn more about how teachers learn from one

another and identify factors that are related to job satisfaction. These studies also examined how schools go about cultivating individuals and shared responsibility for student learning. In essence

the PLC/TLC concept was birthed out of these studies and was realized as a concept that not only improved teacher well being but it could also make a difference in student achievement. At the same

time educators were embracing the notion that schools could not only serve as a source of learning for kids, but also for adults. Similarly, school administrators have reached a consensus that learning

as opposed to just teaching is the schools top priority. Because professional learning communities really do offer teachers the opportunity to develop and share expertise professional learning has

become the intended function of PLC's. So, today, PLC's of their core really expels a belief in teacher leadership and the critical role the teachers play in co-constructing school improvement, the

continuous job of better learning that's associated with the PLC is seen as a premier source of professional development and therefore critical component to building school improvement efforts and

outcomes. In the area of professional development, there's still a relative abyss in the literature with regard to exactly how and what teachers learn from professional development and about the

impact of teacher change on student outcomes. But we do know some things. We know that firstly knowledge is situated in the day-to-day experiences of teachers and it's best understood through

critical reflection with others who share those same experiences. And secondly, actively engaging teachers and PLC's has been shown to increase professional knowledge and enhance student learning.

Building author research just reviewed DuFour nicely underscores through this quote "that a PLC is more than a collection of teachers working together, or social network of teachers who share stories,

materials, or advice". We're caution to remember that the PLC concept is a misuse of terms when it's used to refer to a committee, a grade level teaming session or a weekly planning meeting. We know

the teachers generally welcome the opportunity to discuss ideas and materials related to their work. Yet, we know the discussions that support a more critical examination teaching are still relatively

uncommon. If a PLC is going to serve the purpose of fostering teacher learning and instructional changes, we thought it might be important to review some of the typical caveats and outcomes

associated with more traditional forms of professional development. So we're going to review this slide briefly. You can see that if professional development just speaks to theory we get a medium

level of knowledge acquisition, almost minimal skill acquisition and no classroom application. If professional development incorporates theory and demonstration, we get a much higher level of

knowledge acquisition but still a low level of skill acquisition and again, no classroom application. So, if we go to the bottom and we aim for professional development to incorporate theory

demonstration, practice and coaching we can see we get a very high level of knowledge acquisition and an equally high level of skill and classroom application. So, to enhance the value and purpose of

professional development which is ultimately classroom application, PLC's will need to routinely incorporate opportunities for the training steps that incorporate theory, demonstration, practice and

coaching over time. In practice, what does a PLC look like? PLC's should look like a group of educators who are actively engaged in these steps which are cyclical and systematic in nature and as you

might infer coaching will need to co-occur within each of these steps. PLC's will need to gather evidence of student learning, they're going to then develop strategies and ideas to enhance student

learning. They're going to go ahead and implement those strategies and ideas. They're going to analyze the impact of the changes and discover what was effective or what was less effective or not

effective at all and finally PLC's are going to apply new knowledge as part of the cycle of continuous improvement. So, the question that often comes up with regard to PLC implementation is, are there

some over arching principles that we should keep in mind and in order for teachers to move through this process both systematically and effectively the process should embed the principles of choice and

flexibility, allow for small steps to be taken over time and all these steps should co-occur under conditions that foster support of accountability. I'm going to turn this over to Deb and she'll cover

each of these principles in more detail. DEB FULTON: Thanks, Jen. Please take a moment to review the bullets for the first principle of effective TLC's which is choice. We want to stress that PLC's are likely

to be most effective when team members have freedom to pursue what matters most to them. We can offer support and guidance to what members choose to pursue through the provision of resources such as

commitment to the hard ongoing work of a PLC. It may also by helpful for administrators to communicate from the onset that the impetus for establishing a PLC is not to quickly ratchet up test scores.

So, ultimately and with respect to the issue of choice the goal is to establish self-directed PLC's rather than principle-dependent PLC's. The second principle is flexibility. The adoption and

implementation of research-based practices is certainly an expectation; however, many PLC attempts will falter before they come to fruition. As many of you know, promising practices often are

tucked away in the back of a real or a mental filing cabinet and tagged as just won't work or that won't work here. It will also be necessary to keep teacher enthusiasm alive and cynicism at bay.

One method for doing this is for the PLC facilitator to anchor the process as flexible, meaning that permission is given to relax and experiment with new teaching strategies and moreover to be

unsuccessful. Being free to try something without worry that we'll fail and reflect on the instructor allows professional growth. The parameters though are the educators choose strategies that have

empirical backing and they agree to keep working on them. Some PLC facilitators have made sure that during every PLC meeting coaches and teachers do a problem together or watch a video of a lesson.

Coaches and teachers are then prompted to analyze the task or the instruction to uncover the underlying researche-based strategies and skills that students will need to solve problems. The next

principle is small steps. As we mentioned earlier the research suggest that meaningful learning is a slow and uncertain process for adults just as it is for students. Some teachers change more than

others through participation in professional development and some elements of teachers' knowledge of practice are more easily changed than others. Small steps towards this end will be routed in the degree

to which the community has been formed. That means that there is ongoing development of a group identity, that there are norms for interaction such as having supportive yet challenging conversations

about teaching and that there's a sense of communal responsibility, particularly, with respect to assuming responsibility for another colleague's growth and development. It would be rather difficult

to expect teachers to create a community of learners amongst students if they don't have a parallel community to stay in their own growth. PLC facilitators will need to devote time and planning

towards the establishment of trust and norms that support critical dialogue, as well as maintain a balance between respecting an individual community member while still being able the analyze issues

within an individual's teaching. So, we have covered the need for choice, the need for flexibility, and taking small steps. The last principle is supportive accountability. Specifically what can

principals and or other school leaders do in a way to support accountability. In terms of feedback teams should keep logs and principals should really read those logs and provide brief productive

responses on progress. Principals can also help teams become more visible by posting what they're doing and studying in appropriate meetings through PTA updates and school newsletters. For example, a

PLC team may be elected to share at every faculty meeting. Teams also appreciate administrator interest. So, administrators are engaged to solicit, accept invitations to meet and discuss PLC work

without micro-managing it. There will also be a need for administrators to spend time reviewing team processes and the research on effective PLC'S, and when school leaders sense an enthusiasm maybe

dwindling, there's going to be a need to show appreciation and remove any barriers to effective learning. And finally when students begin to benefit and learning increases this should be recognized

and publicized since we know that, that's often the biggest motivator for teachers. Okay, I am going to turn this over to Pam, who will review some practical steps for getting started. PAM KASTNER: Thanks, Deb.

Just a reminder that if you do you have questions you can send them to si@pattan.net. I'm going to share some tips for getting started. If you've not established a PLC but are interested or if you have

or would like to refine your efforts, it may be helpful the review some tips for initiating and sustaining a PLC. The first step is to assemble a voluntary team that is interested in designing a PLC

initiative. It's preferable to go building wide rather than limit the initiative to a particular grade level. These are some questions that may be considered by individuals and then within groups of three to four.

What outcomes should result from the strong PLC initiative? Here the focus is to be thinking with the end in mind. What characteristics and quality professional learning should be included in the

initiative? And what supports will teachers need in order to effectively participate in professional learning. This is an especially important point for principals to think about the barriers that might

need to be removed to facilitate a PLC structure. Prior to implementation to a PLC it may be helpful to reflect on your own professional learning experiences. What made them more or less meaningful

and to look at the teacher needs across the system. It would be essential to familiarize yourself with the research on PLC's and communicate it broadly and why you would want to establish it in your

building and how it might differ from the other teams that currently exist. We know that there are many teams within the school and you would want to emphasize the difference with this PLC team. Upon

establishment one of the first priorities will be to decide upon group norms and identify a PLC goal. A structure for writing PLC's will need to be adopted or developed in alignment with a systematic and cyclical

process that was described earlier. On this slide we highlight two of the tips for initiating, maintaining and sustaining a PLC that are on your screen. First, let's look at teacher needs. I know and I

think your teachers out there, we often hear concerns from teachers that professional development is too generic and does not correspond with your specific needs. PLC's are a great way to provide an

opportunity for differentiating professional development, as well as, ownership for professional growth. Now, let's focus on establishing team norms. The tendency is to be so eager because we see the

value in PLC's, that leadership often rushes and begins PLC's. It is important to remember that establishing norms is a prerequisite for optimal teaming and communication over time. It may also be

necessary to periodically revisit the agreed upon team expectations. In doing so, you are able to maintain and sustain effective and respectful dialogue which is critical. In reference to the research

on the implementation guidelines we have some empirical guidelines on the slide. Meeting every two weeks does not appear to be enough time to make a behavior change and PLC's wait longer than four

weeks, they appear to lose momentum. So the recommendation is to meet monthly. In addition on the research it also looks as if a 75 minute time frame is necessary to have a critical dialogue and

meeting longer than two hours does not provide any additional pay-off or value. In terms of participants, fewer than eight people put too much pressure on the group leader or facilitator, yet it seems

that exceeding 12 people does not allow for sufficient time to hear from each member. It is also recommended that members represent mixed content areas and that at least two members come from the same

content area are present. Teams should also think about incorporating educators from other disciplines. For example, your related arts teachers, school specialist, ESL teachers, school psychologists,

and special educators. This is an inclusive approach to build a collaborative team working all together to improve student learning. Finally, and most importantly, each PLC meeting should flow

similarly with the same sequence of activities and structure. From a practical perspective we recognize that teams they may not be able to find 75 minutes each month; however, these are the empirical

guidelines. By now you may be wondering what a sample structure would look like and we have one for you here on the screen. You can see here that there is an introduction, a starter activity, time for feedback, new

learning, a personal action planning time, and a summary that takes place at every PLC meeting. This sample structure is borrowed from the work of Dylan William. In the introduction an agenda is

circulated and learning instructions for the meeting are presented. The team has time to review the agenda and revisit their goal of learning to support one another. In this example we can see that the

focus in parts two and three of the introduction is to improve student engagement and improve classroom questioning practices. This is an example of a brain starter activity. Think of it as is bell ringer to get

team members engaged. Feedback is seen as critical an embedded component within the PLC process. In this example PLC members are pulling out their personal action plan template and writing about a

technique that they had tried since the last meeting. Also, someone is elected as a challenger. Educators often do not like confrontation; however, embedding the role of the challenger provides

supportive accountability without taking on a (inaudible) tone. Ideally, a challenger would be a PLC member as opposed to a principal so that participants begin to appreciate that a healthy level of a

challenge is an important and necessary part of professional growth and learning. As educators, we often tend to avoid conflict and dissent, rather than to learn to embrace and welcome it. New learning. As shown

here, teachers are letting (inaudible) in some new learning. In this example the question poses how to increase academic learning time with on task behavior. Members will have time to review their

research on this topic and share reactions with plans for implementation. One thing we'd like to note about new learning is that a norm for these PLC meetings can be to bring and share research for

discussion and potential application. Effective PLC's seek the highest quality research, and look to others to help them understand what truly constitutes effective research or peer-reviewed

research vs. techniques that are recommended that may not have empirical backing or support. During the last leg of this meeting PLC members are asked to commit to an action plain which includes

observing a peer and having a peer observe implementation of strategies. In this structure the administrator would provide supportive accountability by collecting copies of the personal action plan

and providing follow up support and feedback. This is a critical piece for leadership to provide support for teachers and follow through. Finally, to bring closure to every meeting, there can be a

brief amount of time devoted to summarizing the meeting. I hope these tips for getting started have been helpful. I'm going to turn it back to Jen to cover strategies for securing time and some final

thoughts. JENNIFER LILLENSTEIN: Thanks Pam. One of the caveats to PLC's implementation by the book is time and slides 23-30 highlight some strategies that some districts are currently using to solidify time and we've

included them for your consideration. They all come from Think Outside the Box: Creating Time for Professional Learning, and we thought it might be helpful to include them. They reference banking or

buying time, using common time, strategies for using resource personnel, freeing teacher from non-instructional duties, adding days to the calendar, and using time in general more effectively. In

reference to banking time, please take a minute to look at some of these tips. Our experience is that folks are choosing to bank time by incorporating early dismissal or late start days into their

calendar, but this time is not typically used for PLC meetings; however, Pam does have a wonderful example to share. PAM KASTNER: Hi everyone. In the district that I have been working with the teachers have agreed

that they would be able to leave school about five minutes early every day, and then that time is banked through the course of the month which allows a one hour time to meet in PLC's. This is just like one

creative way that administrators, unions and teachers can really work together to have that extra time for that critical dialogue for the PLC's.--every month 60 minutes-- JENNIFER LILLENSTEIN: Take a look at buying time.

Again, we find that many schools are bringing in substitutes to allow teachers to meet that the meeting time is typically for teachers to attend data analysis meetings, IEP meetings, home visitations,

parent meetings etc. Using permanent substitutes as a mechanism for PLC's to meet might be a possibility for some schools. Use of common time is probably one of the most effective ways to establish

regular opportunities for PLC's to get together. The inherent challenge is finding a 75 minutes block of time as prescribed. I'm working with one middle school that has done this. They have weekly 75

minute meetings among their grade level teachers. The next step is to help refine how to use this time for professional learning at least once per month. Under the use of resource personnel it may be

important to caution against using related art, special educators, specialist etc, to consistently cover these meetings because as Pam mentioned earlier all professionals should be afforded the

opportunity to be a part of voluntary PLC. Free from non-instructional duties is an interesting way to use time. As you may have guessed we don't see too many schools using these particular

strategies, often because they simply aren't as reliable or consistently available in comparison to some of the other options. In terms of adding professional days to the calendar, adding these days may

serve as a kick off to PLC implementation, but realistically schools would need to increase the number of professional days significantly to meet the monthly meeting requirements of a PLC. And then in

terms of this slide, these are general tips for considering since time is always so constrained. We've spent our time together reviewing the origin of the PLC concept the intended purpose and look-fors of a

PLC, we've reviewed the underlying principles of choice, flexibility, small steps and supportive accountability and the importance of having a common meeting structure that embeds enough time for

reflection new learning and personal action planning. While the guidelines around time, the number of meetings recommended, and the type of PLC members may be a little stringent, please recall that

these emanate from research and again if implemented accordingly have been shown to correlate with better PLC outcomes. We would offer that the information provided today just really touches the

surface of the PLC literature and strongly encourage you to look at some of the resources and references that are listed. If you're interested in moving forward and need some additional support to do

so. We're going to leave you now with some time to reflect either individually or within your teams. Please feel free to use the action planning resources that follow the slide and offer any suggestions

or comments that will help us to further support you and we're go through these briefly. This is a TLC action planning guide. The first part is designed to get teams thinking about their

implementation priorities and the second part helps teams evaluate whether their PLC efforts are resolving the intended purpose and outcomes. Many of you are familiar with the action sequence of

school improvement planning. These steps were copied right from that portion of document again these steps can be used to help teams identify instructional priorities in a systematic way and then

monitor the fidelity of implementation of the effectiveness. And following slide is continuation of the action sequence steps. The aforementioned references by DuFour and Jolly are both comprehensive

guides or handbooks if you will for implementing PLC and facilitating team processes both handbooks come with sample forms and structures for you use and application. The last resource by Wiliam is

actually a comprehensive professional development package. It contains 9 monthly meeting structures for using the structure of a PLC to embed formative assessment techniques. These are two additional

websites that contain a continuum of free resources that pertain to the PLC implementation they have everything from articles on sustaining PLC's to sample meeting structures, and I mention the first

one in the beginning of a webinar called All Things PLC. Finally, these resources offer teams the opportunity to conduct a more thorough self assessment that should inform next steps for refining your

PLC efforts. So, if you're in the very beginning of the process and you just want to do a needs assessment, these resources can be helpful. This quote from Shirley Hord certainly underscores the potential

value and impact that PLC's can have on teacher morale, building climate and professional renewal in general. Thanks again for your time and interest today. We wish you continued success in moving

forward with this initiative, and certainly look forward to hearing about your progress. We'd appreciate your completion of the survey that follows and you may use the link to access the survey that

will help guide us for the next steps. We also want to mention we've a number of questions that have come in. The power point is available on the PaTTAN website and you can reach that PowerPoint at

www.pattan.net, and please feel free to share with others who weren't able to join us for this webinar today. This is the slide that has the link to the survey that we would ask you to complete if you

get a chance. And again, we appreciate your time. Thank you very much.